Method of forming a grinding wheel



o r 3,551,125 Ice Patented Dec. 29, 1970 3 551 125 that it can be operated without affecting the true running of the finished wheel; the wheel can be mounted, trued METHOD OF FORMING A GRINDING WHEEL Raymond T. Hallewe, Himngdon Heath England up, and then profiled and impregnated 1n pos1t1on and signor to Toolmasters Limited, Hillingdon Heath, Engready 11sel d The abrasive and filler employed will normally be No Drawing. Filed Jan. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 695,561 5 different materials, but the abrasive may in some cases Claims priority, applicatitsig7%r7eat Britain, Jan. 4, 1967, also be the filler or dispersed through the composition with a different filler. The 5 i i f of t ubsequent to The filler imparts bulk to the composition, aids in the :3} i 0 2 2 6 g g 10 production of the required kneadable consistency for roll- US. CL 10 Claims ing, and imparts strength and rigidity to the hardened product. Any one or more of a wide variety of fillers may be employed according to the physical properties ABSTRACT OF THE nrscrosunn requlrsd of the Q A method of making a grinding member having a pro- Vanous fiiommmute metalls can for eXamPle be emfiled grinding surface the grindin member having a ployed let? H-ard meta S Such as Steel give a prodbase a kneadable composition on tile base comprising a Whlch retams Its accuracy of profile Over Ion-g Pehardenable synthetic resin An abrasive is deposited on nods Whereas Softer metals Fudi as copper or -a1umlmum have the advantage of wearing in use to contmually exthe exposed surface of the composition when still in a P 86 fresh abrasive, these softer metals, giving a soft plastic state, the surfaceof the grinding member then Wearin b d 1 g on are emp oyed for fine work or for fast being rolled to the required predetermined profile while removal of Stock without risk of damage to the Work z qil causmg embeddmg of the abraslve Into The following table illustrates properties typically re- 6 composl quired of grinding wheels for particular purposes together with examples of appropriate fillers for use 1n the This invention relates to the production of grinding method according to the invention.

Characteristic of hardened composition Advantage or suited use of grinding member Examples of appropriate fillers Soft Wearing bond (a) for fine work; (b) for fast stock removal Soft metals such as copper or aluminium; soft non without damage to work. metals such wood flour, chalk powder, marble flour.

Slate powder; silica flour; hard metals such as steels. Aluminium oxide, silicon carbide. (1 work- Nylon; asbestos powder.

Hard wearing bond Minimum wheel wear- Very hard, abrasiveavear resisting bond Minimum Wheel wear Shock resistance ed Where high resilience is req ing wheels.

Electrical conductivity For electrolytic grinding Electrically conductive metals such as copper and aluminium; electrically conductive nonmetals such as graphite; nonmetals and plastics materials coated with electrically conductive metal.

Minimum damage to work through local Thermally conductive metals such as copper or overheating during grinding. aluminium.

Thermal conductivity Heat-resistant bond. Minimum damage to Wheel due to local over- Heat-resistance materials such as mica or asbestos heating dur ng grinding. powder.

members and provides a method of making a grinding The fillers mentioned above can be used alone, but member having a profiled grinding surface comprising where a combination of properties is required of the forming a body of a kneadable composition comprising a finished grinding member a mixture of different fillers hardenable synthetic resin having a filler dispersed theremay be employed. The particular filler or fillers used, through, and, whilst the composition is still in a plastic and the proportion or proportions thereof employed, is state, embedding an abrasive in an exposed surface of the selected according to the use to which the grinding membody and simultaneously rolling the said surface to the her is to be put.

required predetermined profile with a master roller, the Where a comminuted metal or mixture of metals is profiled body thereafter being hardened with substantially employed alone as the filler, the metallic component will no volume change. normally constitute a major proportion by weight of the For the production of a grinding wheel, a layer of the kneadable composition, but where as mixture of metal composition may be applied around the rim of a supwith another filler (i.e., an abrasive such as diamond, porting disc and then treated as described above. The rim alumina or silicon carbide, or a filler imparting shock of the disc or base may be preformed to the required or heat resistance) is employed, the metallic component profile before the application of the composition, but is may constitute only a minor proportion by weight of the preferably flat and roughened, as by scoring or pitting, to composition. provide a key for the kneadable composition. As indicated above the total proportion of filler em- Due to the workable nature of the plastic composition, ployed in the composition may vary over a wide range the method of the invention does not require the applicaaccording to the intended purpose of the product. In tion of high pressure for the profiling or impregnation, so general however, the proportions will range from 60% that power consumption is relatively low, there is little or by volume of filler, 40% by volume of resin if no abrano wastage of abrasive, and there is no limitation as to sive is present to 40% by volume of filler, 60% by volthe width of the discs that can be treated. The invention ume of resinous component where abrasive is present. thus provides a method whereby cheaper and more ac- The identity, amount, and grain size of the abrasive curately profiled grinding members with a Wider range of applied to the exposed surface of the grinding wheel will possible profiles can be produced than has been possible also be chosen according to the intended use of the finheretofore. In the production of grinding wheels the ished grinding member, as is well understood in the art.

method of the invention has the additional advantage For example, diamond used as the applied abrasive will 3 normally be of from 80 to 200 grit size, the finer particles being used for accurate work and the coarser for rough grinding.

The abrasive particles may be simply sprinkled onto the surface of the composition, but are preferably sprayed on, e.g., in an air jet. In the production of a grinding wheel the abrasive may for example be sprayed onto the peripheral layer, during profiling, from a spray head which is most advantageously mounted in place of the usual forming tool on a standard wheel-forming apparatus such as the Diaform equipment described in British patent specification No. 573,877.

The advantage of mounting the spray jet on a Diaform is that the jet is .kept at a constant distance from the face of the wheel; this is important, as any variation in this distance will vary the concentration of the abrasive applied, due to spread as the abrasive leaves the jet.

With the spray method using a predetermined pressure and distance, the penetration and concentration of abrasive applied to the Wheel can be controlled; the penetration need only be deep enough to key the abrasive, as it will be immediately rolled into position.

Simultaneous forming and impregnation with abrasive is advantageous, because the optimum consistency of the hardening composition for both the rolling and the impregnation steps is the same; if application of abrasive is delayed until the composition has hardened further, the abrasive is likely to be loosely bounded and may pull out of the wheel during grinding.

The plastic composition should be of such consistency for the profiling and impregnating step that it does not stick to the roller. The resin and the hardening agent used in the composition are therefore preferably so selected that the prepared composition retains its workable consistency for an extended period, e.g., for an hour or more.

To obtain the optimum workable consistency it may be necessary to include a thickening agent, such as silica, in the composition. Polymerisable epoxy or polyester resins, in admixture with a hardening agent, e.g., one comprising a polyamide and a mild base such as an amine, are suitable for use as the resinous component of the composition. Acrylic resins with appropriate hardening agents are also suitable as the resinous component of the composition.

As indicated above abrasive particles may be employed as the filler, or as part of the filler, and this permits wheels to be produced having layers with abrasives of difierent grain size. For example the kneadable composition may be wholly or partially filled with abrasive of relatively coarse grain size, a finer abrasive (which may be the same as or different from the coarse abrasive) being applied superficially during profiling. Initially, when the form of this wheel is most accurate, fine grit is exposed and the wheel can hence be used for finish grinding; as the form wears, coarse abrasive is exposed rendering the wheel more suited for rough grinding.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by the following specific examples.

EXAMPLE 1 A metal disc of about 6 diameter, about 1" thick and having a roughened rim is mounted on the spindle of a grinding machine. A thin layer of Devcon A (trademark) a resinous composition including 80% by weight comminuted steel and 20% by weight curable epoxy resin, is applied around the rim of the disc and allowed to partially harden. The required form is then rolled into the peripheral layer of Devcon A by means of a master roller, whilst diamond dust is sprayed onto the layer immediately ahead of the roller from a spray head mounted in place of the forming tool on a wheel-forming apparatus. The profiled and impregnated layer of Devcon A is then allowed to set to its final hardness. The Devcon A sets to a hard mass with substantially no shrinkage, so that a hard-wearingabrasive surface of accurate .profile is obtained.

EXAMPLE 2 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated using Devcon F instead of Devcon A. Devcon F includes 80% by weight of comminuted aluminium as fillen. A soft-wearing thermally-conductive wheel of accurate profile was obtained.

EXAMPLE 3 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated using as the kneadable composition a curable epoxy resin containing 80 Wt. percent of copper as filler. An electrically conductive wheel of accurate profile, suitable for electrolytic grinding was obtained.

EXAMPLE 4 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated employing a kneadable composition containing 15 wt. percent epoxy resin, wt. percent comminuted aluminium, and wt. percent 80-grit-size diamond dust, the diamond dust applied superficially being of 200-grit-size. The wheel obtained was a relatively soft-wearing thermally conductive wheel having an accurate profile with fine abrasive exposed. The wheel is initially suited for fine work, but as it wears coarser abrasive is exposed for rough grinding with fast stock removal.

EXAMPLE 5 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated using a composition in which 40 wt. percent of the steel was replaced by granulated nylon, a hard-wearing shock-resistant wheel being obtained.

EXAMPLE 6 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated using a kneadable composition of a curable polyester resin containing as filler 60% by volume of a /50 mixture of wood flour and marble flour, a very soft-wearing wheel for fast stock removal being obtained.

EXAMPLE 7 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated using a kneadable composition of a curable polyester resin containing as filler 30% by volume of asbestos powder and 30% by volume of silicon carbide, the wheel obtained being very hard, wear-resistant, shock-resistant and heatresistant.

EXAMPLE 8 A wheel for electrolytic grinding Was produced by repeating the procedure of Example 3 using as filler by volume of graphite powder in place of the copper.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making a grinding member having abrasive particles embedded in a substrate comprising a synthetic resin, the improvement which comprises the steps of:

(l) placing a continuous layer of said resin on a base;

(2) applying abrasive particles to an exposed surface of the resin layer; then,

(3) while the resin is supported on the base and is in a partially hardened condition in which it is capable of being permanently deformed upon application of pressure thereto and is nonsticky, molding the resin layer to alter the shape of said resin layer by moving a rotating shaping roller over the exposed surface of the resin layer and applying a deforming pressure onto the surface of said resin layer by means of the roller for simultaneously (a) altering the shape of said resin layer until it has been deformed to a final profile and ('b) embedding the abrasive particles into the exposed surface of said resin layer; and then (4) causing the resin to harden slowly without changing the shape of the surface and with substantially no volume change to form a grinding member having a grinding surface of said final profile.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, comprising the additional steps of mixing the resin with abrasive particles so that the particles become dispersed within the resin prior to placing the layer on the base, the abrasive particles dispersed within the resin being ofcoarser grain size than the abrasive particles applied to the exposed sur faceiof the resin layer after it has been placed on the base.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the base comprises a central supporting disk and the continuous resin layer is of an annular configuration disposed around the rim of the disk.

4.;A method according to claim 1, wherein the base comprises a central supporting disk and the continuous resin layer comprises an annular layer disposed around the fim of the disk with said exposed surface comprising the peripheral surface of the annular layer, and wherein the exposed surface of the layer is rolled to'said final profile and said abrasive particles embedded into said exposed surface while said disk is mounted in its operable grinding "position, whereby the grinding member is produced already mounted and trued up into position ready for use.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, comprising the additional step of mixing the resin with abrasive particles so that isame can be dispersed within the resin prior to placing the resin layer on the base.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, comprising the additional step of mixing the resin with a filler so that the filler becomes dispersed within the resin prior to placing the resin layer on the base.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein the resin contains comminuted metal in suspension therein.

8. A method according to claim 6, wherein the filler comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of wood flour, chalk powder, marble flour, slate powder, silica flour, aluminum oxide, silica carbide, diamond dust, nylon, asbestos powder, mica powder and graphite.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the abrasive particles are sprayed onto the exterior surface of said layer.

10. A method as defined in claim 9, comprising the additional steps of providing a spray head at a constant distance from the exterior surface of the wheel for spraying the abrasive particles thereon, the constant distance between the spray head and the exterior surface of the wheel maintaining the concentration of abrasive particles applied to the exterior surface substantially constant, and spraying the abrasive particles onto the exterior surface for causing the abrasive particles to penetrate the exterior surface of the layer to a suflicient extent to cause the abrasive particles to become secured to the layer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,364,630 1/1968 Rusk et a1 5l298 3,415,635 12/1968 Hallewell 5l298 3,424,566 1/ 1969 Kuenstle et al 5l--293 3,436,874 4/1969 Betzler 5l293 DONALD J. ARNOLD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

